Back Down the Rabbit Hole
by Twiggy99
Summary: Alice beat the Queen, so why is she still at Rutledge's? *Finished*
1. Sane?

  
  


Writer's Comment: I do not own anything. Please don't hurt me.

  
  
  
  
  
  


"Now Alice" Dr. Wilson started, "I'd like you to do some word association."

Alice reluctantly agreed.

"Okay, we'll start with....rabbit"

"Time"

"Cat"

"Grinning"

"Fire"

"Wonderland..." Alice's voice trailed off.

"Now Alice" said Dr. Wilson, "Didn't we just say yesterday that Wonderland is not a real place?"

"But it is real" argued Alice "I've been there so many times...."

"Wonderland was conceived by your mind so you could hide from the truth, guilt and sadness."

"Then how did I get there before the fire?" asked Alice. 

To tell the truth, Dr. Wilson wasn't sure of the answer himself, and shrugged it off.

"Well Alice, time's up- we'll have another session tomorrow.

A nurse came up to Alice and lead her to her room. Her room was full of drawings of twisted looking animals tacked to parts of the wall that wasn't padded. Alice got into bed and hugged her stuffed white rabbit as the metal cell door slammed behind her.

"You believe me, don't you rabbit?" She paused, half expecting him to answer and hugged him again. "In Wonderland, no one is any more mad than the next, so people don't blame you for being so." 

"I wish I could go back." She said between a yawn.

"I wish you could too." murmured the rabbit.

Alice was taken aback by rabbits reply. He had spoke to her one before but.....no it couldn't be real, it just couldn't. 

  
  


*Okay so here's the first part, please review. I should have part two in a few days.* 


	2. Back to Wonderland?

Writers Comment: I don't own anything. Don't hurt me.

  
  
  
  


"But the rabbit did talk Dr. Wilson. I know it, I need to go back to Wonderland!", Alice exclaimed wildly. 

"Alice!" warned the doctor firmly, "Anymore outbursts like this and I'll have to restrain you."

Alice sank slowly back into the leather chair in the office.

Dr. Wilson was stuck, he had no idea how he should handle this and decided that Rutledge Asylum was due for a board meeting.

  
  


Dr. Wilson cleared his throat and waited for the board to silence. "Good morning", he started, "I'm Dr. H. Wilson. I've come for help on a peculiar patient of mine. Her name is Alice, she is 18 years of age and she has suffered severe childhood trauma as her parents died in a house fire. Alice made up an imaginary land called Wonderland where I believe she hid from her fears. Now, when I was first given Alice as a patient, she was in a catatonic state. As I began to treat her by my new regimen she seemed to improve, drawing picture and reciting small verses. One day when had a conversation with me. She told me Wonderland had become a rancid and vile place and in order for it to be righted, she would have to save it."

  
  


Members of the board started to talk or laugh and Dr. Wilson waited for silence again.

  
  


"When Alice began her journey, she would slip in and out of a delusional state. One minute, she would tell me about the tea party and the Red Queen. Other times she acted as if I were one of those very enemies. One day, Alice seemed very happy, she told me the Red Queen was gone and Wonderland was safe. I thought that once Alice had dealt with her inner turmoil she would be healthy again. But now, 2 months later, she seems to be regressing to her delusional state. She believes wonderland is still real. I've tried everything, I don't know what to do."

  
  


The Doctor waited for the discussion to end. 

  
  


He saw a raised hand. "Yes Peterson", he answered 

"what's your question?"

"Does Alice ever hear voices?" he asked.

"Yes. Sometimes she believes a white rabbit speaks to her.

Another hand raised. "Yes Nurse Rose, your question?"

"Well I have a statement." she stated matter of factly , "There has been many new ways to treat schizophrenia, a new treatment is electro-shock therapy." 

"Wouldn't that hurt her?", asked the doctor.

"While electro-shock therapy is still is in its test stages, we believe we have discovered a suitable dosage. If you'd like, bring Alice over to the lab and we'll check her out" Nurse Rose said with a flip of her red hair.

"Well what harm could it do?" Wilson asked himself.

  
  
  
  


*So, chapter two. What do you think?* 


	3. House of Cards?

Writers Comment: I don't own anything. Don't hurt me.  
*1/2/03* Revised after some helpful comments. Sorry for the confusion, I know it's ECT but I didn't want to confuse anyone so I used EST for electroshock therapy. But I guess that didn't work. So, I tried (again) to search for shock therapy(ECT) in the 1930s but, I found nothing. I'm trying hard to do this right. I'm sure this and many other chapters will be revised often.  
  
  


Alice sat in a wheelchair being pushed through a long corridor. This was a whole other side of Rutledge's, she had never seen this area before. The wheelchair stopped outside a room. The door was labeled :

Laboratory 33a Dr. Q. Rose 

For a long while they stood there, neither of them speaking. The Doctor, not sure how to tell Alice about the procedure and Alice, not caring very much for conversation. Dr. Wilson led Alice into the room to someone that Alice presumed was Dr. Rose. "Why, Hello Alice." said Dr. Rose said in a sickening sweet voice. Alice blinked in response. Dr. Rose and Dr. Wilson untied Alice's restraints and led Alice to the metal examination table. 

Alice looked at Dr. Wilson, who was staring at his shoes. Dr. Rose explained to Alice why she was here. "Alice" she said, "We're trying an experiment, it should make you feel all better. You won't need Wonderland." Alice started to protest but Dr. Rose continued. "I will say there's some amount of....pain.....involved but I'll try to make you as comfortable as I can." Alice nodded, her eyes closed. A few nurses laid her down on the metal table and restrained her. Alice eyed the gauges, dials and switches. She drowned out all the voices and heard only the steady ticking of the clock.

A crown of thick metal was placed onto her head, electrodes were then attached to the metal. Tears welled up in the corners of Alice's eyes as the feeling that something bad was going to happen rose inside her.

"All ready Dr. Rose." The metallic voice echoed in her ear.

"Okay Alice we're going to start now." the doctor called out. "Try to relax" 

Alice clenched her teeth as the doctor slowly counted to three and turned the dial all the way up, releasing 110 volts of electricity. On three Alice let out an ear piercing shriek. Immediately her body tensed and there were short bursts of twitching. 

"What's going on?" Dr. Wilson asked, frightened. 

"This is what's supposed to happen, she's reacting very well." replied the other doctor. "She probably won't even remember this when she wakes." 

As Alice's movement began to diminish, the nurses took her restraints off. They would have to wait until she regained consciousness to see if she had improved. There was a chance it wouldn't work, or that she had lost some of her memory in the process. 

About thirty minutes later, Alice awoke in a hospital bed to a faint ticking of a clock. Had she heard it before? She couldn't remember. Her head felt very sore and so did her shoulders. She sat up and a nurse came up to her. 

"Alice, you're awake." she noted kindly.

"Wh - what happened?" Alice asked.

"Well you went through your first ECT treatment."

"Oh..." Alice sighed and laid back down.

"Well, how do you feel?" asked the nurse.

Alice replied in a low tone. "I feel..." she started "like a falling house of cards." And drifted off back to sleep.  
  



	4. Not for Long

Writer's Comment: I don't own anything. Please do not hurt me.  
  
  
  
  
  


When Alice opened her eyes again, she seemed buried in a deep fog. No noises seemed familiar. As she slid off the bed into what looked like a solid wall of grey cloud she felt the ground with her bare feet. This was not the floor she remembered in the ward. It felt damp, like soil. She took a few more steps into the fog. Where was she? A cool breeze ran across her face. "I must be outside." she thought. "Maybe I'm in the garden. But why would my bed be out in the garden? How curious it all seems." She stumbled towards what she thought was the sound of water running. "If it's a river or such, I can follow it and find someone."  
  


~*~  
  


Dr. Wilson wheeled the wheelchair carrying the now unconscious Alice down the laboratory wing. He passed a group of patients gasping, drooling, resembling dogs gone mad and reaching out to him with long pale fingers. "Results of insulin shock I presume." he said, pitying them. He reached over and grabbed Alice's arm that dangled lifelessly over the armrest and placed it in her lap. When Dr. Wilson returned to the familiar pediatric ward, Nurse D was waiting for Alice and the Doctor. "How's my favorite patient?" Nurse D asked. She frowned when Alice failed to answer and Dr. Wilson replied for her, saying that "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."

"You talk nonsense." said the older nurse. With that she grabbed the wheelchair from the doctor and wheeled Alice to her room. "All you need is a good rest.." she said softly and laid Alice down next to her white rabbit.   
  


~*~  
  


Alice's eyes adjusted to being outside. She hadn't been outside of the ward in the longest time and walking about freely seemed strange to her. She called out into the open space ahead of her and waited for an answer. Nothing.  
  


"Excuse me." said a tiny voice next to Alice, "But your doing it all wrong." 

Alice looked for the source of the voice. A field mouse sat beside her. 

"You have to do it like this." started the mouse. He walked to a far cliff hanging over the valley and yelled. 

"Hello!" screeched his little mouse voice."Hello!" a voice screeched back. "That's how it's done." said the mouse triumphantly.

Alice grinned. "Oh silly mouse, that's an echo!"

The mouse agreed. "I know, queer creatures aren't they? They only say what you say to them."

Alice shook her head and laughed. "Mouse, do you know where I am? You see, first I was in Rutledge's, going in for a treatment. Then..." Her voice trailed off. "I forget what happened next." The mouse suddenly looked very frightened, and started to run off.

"But mouse! I haven't told you the rest. Wait!", Alice yelled. 

But the field mouse head already ran into a small burrow nearby.

"What was he so afraid of?" Alice wondered. She turned around to go back to the river and saw a familiar grin out of the corner of her eye. She studied the slinky cat as it walked toward her. He was still a bit bony, but not mangy as before. 

Alice clasped her hands together. "Cheshire Cat! It's felt like forever! But you're here, I'm here... again!"

The cat looked at Alice with empty eyes. "Yes Alice." he purred in his mysterious voice. "You're here, in Wonderland again, but I don't think you'll be here long."  
  
  
  
  
  


*Wow, so I hope this chapter doesn't confuse you the way it weaves through the two different stories. I hope you all 'got it' that the Wonderland part is in her head while the Asylum is reality. I'm sure you did.

Anyway, I love all my reviews so far. I take criticism well so, keep them coming!* 


	5. Falling

  
  
  
  
  
  


Alice stopped smiling and eyed the Cheshire Cat. 

"What do you mean, not for long?" 

"Wonderland is in danger of disappearing forever and you are our only help."

"What do you mean...disappear?"

The cat sighed. "You must seek The Oracle and find the truth."

"The Oracle? That silly caterpillar? He knows nothing." 

"He knows the truth" purred the cat. "I'd seek him out, if I were you."

Alice looked around. She was standing on a floating island-like mass and below it was a wide rushing river. 

"Well, how am I to get to him? I'm up here and he no doubt, is somewhere else."

The Cheshire Cat slunk to the mouse hole and sat beside it. "Do as the little creatures do."

"Oh cat, you've gone mad, I'm much to big for that hole" she protested.

"Nonsense" said the cat "You're in Wonderland, don't forget it. Perhaps the fungus among us will help you out." With that, he disappeared.  
  


~*~  
  


"Has she woken up yet?" asked Dr. Wilson hopefully. 

"No" Nurse D replied. 

It had been nearly half a day and Alice was still in a coma-like state. Here and there she would mumble a phrase or turn about in bed but she seemed that her mind was in another world.

"Perhaps you should talk to Dr. Rose" Nurse D added helpfully. 

A scream echoed through the halls.

Nurse D rose from her seat. "Who's screaming like that?"

A nurse rushed into the room and asked Nurse D and the doctor to help restrain a new patient. They exited the room and again Alice was alone, left to her delusions.

  
  


~*~

  
  
  
  


Alice picked up a purple mushroom. She studied it carefully, turning it around in her hands. She tore a piece off the cap and stuffed it into her mouth. She suddenly felt very dizzy, and she felt herself growing smaller. Soon she was just as tall as a blade off grass.

"Good thing I didn't eat too much, I would have disappeared altogether" she said to herself, and headed towards the mouse hole. She jumped into the hole and her dress puffed up with the rushing air. Alice was floating gently, like a feather for what it seemed like a very long time. She knew this because she had recited 'The Jabberwocky' twenty-five and a half times before she reached the ground. When she got to the part about the tum-tum trees, she landed with a thud. 

She stood for a minute, staring blankly at the wall of the cave she dropped into. Once again the cat appeared. 

"Alice" he persisted, "You're not on holiday, please don't dawdle." Just as quickly as he showed up, he disappeared, leaving Alice on the path to The Oracle. 

  
  


*Okay, sorry this chapters a little rushed. I'm not so good with middles. Anyway, please review.*


	6. Wonderland Lost

  
  
  
  


Dr. Rose sat in Dr. Wilson's office. Dr. Wilson sat at his desk, silently stirring his tea. He then looked up and addressed Dr. Rose. 

  
  


"Dr. Rose....Alice still hasn't regained full consciousness, I'm worried about this." said Dr. Wilson.

Dr. Rose looked out the window. "It's still quite early" she explained "give her another day."

"But she shouldn't be like this" complained the doctor "Can't we do anything?"

"Well..." grinned Dr. Rose "We can always give her another treatment."

Dr. Wilson sighed. "Don't you think one was enough?"

"Oh no! Most patients need more than one."

"Well...do you think it will help?"

"Yes, I'm quite sure. We should start this right away."

  
  


~*~

  
  


Alice walked down the path to the caterpillar's mushroom. She had remembered when they had fooled her into thinking he was The Oracle. The truth was, he made no sense at all. This was no Oracle.

She found him perched upon a mushroom, with his hookah next to him as usual. She sat

on a toadstool next to him and waited for him to acknowledge her. Mad or not, it was impolite to speak when not spoken to. 

"Hello Alice" He said slowly. "I see you've come back."

"Yes Caterpillar, I've come to see you."

"Really?" the caterpillar asked, as if he did not know.

"Yes, why have I come here? Cheshire Cat says Wonderland is in danger of disappearing but, I'm afraid I don't understand."

The caterpillar sucked in from his hookah and leaned in towards Alice.

"Alice, do you know were wonderland is?" he asked.

"Well, I've never really thought about it before."

Again the caterpillar inhaled deeply.

"Wonderland exists only in your mind Alice. It's only your imagination, not a real place."

"But it seems so real" Alice said. 

"A child's imagination is a wonderful thing" the caterpillar said "But you're in danger of losing what is most precious to you and us."

"What do you mean?" asked Alice.

Caterpillar leaned forward.

"You are almost twenty, nearly an adult. Your doctors in the asylum want you to live a normal life and leave the asylum....but you understand what happens to adults Alice?"

Alice couldn't say that she did.

"They lose their imagination!" the caterpillar explained. "If you go out into the real world Alice, your imagination will diminish and Wonderland will be lost forever."

The last few words echoed in Alice's head. The caterpillar leaned forward again, this time blowing purple smoke into her face. Alice felt her eyes grow heavy and began to grow very sleepy. The last words she heard came from the caterpillar. 

"The choice is yours alone Alice. Do try to make the right one."

  
  


~*~

  
  


Nurse D ran down the hall to the Doctors office. "He'll be so happy" she thought and ran into the room. 

"Dr. Wilson" she called, breathing heavily from her run. "Alice is awake."

"Thank goodness." said the doctor as he put his coat on and followed Nurse D to Alice's room.


	7. Another treatment

It was early morning. A light rain drummed on the window and the sun let out a pale glow from between the gray clouds. Alice sat on her bed, jabbing at a bowl of gelatin. She sighed, thinking of the words of the caterpillar. He had told her to make the right choice: how would she know what was the right choice? She had wanted to stay in Wonderland very much but on the other hand she wanted very much to grow up, leave the asylum, maybe have a family. 

  
  


Later that day, Alice went to her session with Dr. Wilson. She never liked the smell in his office. It smelled like a musty mix of old leather and cigars. She picked a book up off the desk and flipped through pictures of the human anatomy. After a while Dr. Wilson arrived. He startled Alice and she slammed the book closed when she saw him. The doctor looked at the book in Alice's hands.

"Would you like to be a doctor too?" he asked. Alice gave him an irritable look. She hated to be treated like such an ignorant child.

The doctor drew in a deep breath and sat down.

"Alice, do you remember anything that happened yesterday?'

Alice cocked her head to the side. "I remember.....going into a lab....I remember I was scared but I don't know why. The voices seemed far away but the ticking was so very loud. That's all I remember." Alice said, ashamed for not remembering what happened. 

"It's okay if you don't remember" said the doctor, sensing Alice's discomfort. "Did anything happen after you left the lab?"

"That I remember" Alice said confidently. The words seemed to spill out of her mouth. "I was alone, outside.....I wanted to find someone so I called out. But the mouse told me I was wrong. Then the Cheshire Cat came and told me that I need to save Wonderland, so did the Caterpillar.."

Dr. Wilson shook his head. Alice still had trouble distinguishing her delusions from reality. Maybe Dr. Rose was right, perhaps Alice needed another shock treatment. He sent Alice back to her room and went to go find Dr. Rose. In a day Alice found herself in a wheelchair, being wheeled back to the lab.


	8. Gone

"Don't be scared" said the nurse as the readied Alice. 

"Why should I be scared" Alice scoffed to herself "...of something I don't remember?"

She laid down on the cold metal table. Would she recall it this time? Would she black out? Would it hurt? All these questions raced through Alice's mind. She heard the ticking, it seemed so familiar. She heard the clicking of switches and when she least expected it, a powerful shock shot through her causing her to convulse as if strangled by an unseen man. 

  
  


~*~

  
  


"Alice" whispered the cat..."Wake up Alice" he pleaded. 

Alice sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What is it Cat?" she asked. 

"Have you made your choice yet?" he asked. Alice shook her head. 

"This isn't a joke!" he hissed. 

Alice stood up. "I'm aware of that cat, but have you ever made a decision like this in a day?" 

The cat looked at his paws. "...No." She studied the cat. He looked very pale indeed and had an apathetic look on his face. He was definitely not the cat he used to be. 

"Perhaps I'll just walk around a bit. It'll probably help me make up my mind." she said to the cat and started walking through the woods.

Wonderland woods was an odd place, and it seemed no matter what direction you were headed in you would end up in the same place. A snap-dragonfly buzzed by Alice's head and she shooed it away and broke into a run, not caring where she ran because she would end up in the same place no matter where she went.

Alice stopped when she came to the clearing. There were two ways to go now. One led to the Mad Hatter, and the other to the March Hare. But since the March Hare was always at Hatter's, that path would lead Alice to the both of them. And so she took that one.

While nearing the Mad Hatter's gate a familiar clatter arose. For some, it would be the sound of a amusing party. For others, this was a sound of chaos and the source was the Hatter's 'mad' tea parties, where dishes were never put away, un-birthdays were always celebrated and it was eternally six o'clock. Alice stood outside the Hatter's large wrought iron gate, tracing the designs with her eyes, then she pushed it open and went to the overly large table set out in the yard. 

The Mad Hatter sat at the head of the table. He had a rather cartoon look about him, a large nose and a considerably large hat that rested askew on his head. Next to him, sat the erratic March Hare, his matted brown hair glowing in the sun. Last but not least, in a sugar bowl slept the Dormouse, snoring peacefully through all the yelling and singing.

  
  


Alice sat in an overly large chair. "Good afternoon sirs" she said sweetly. 

The March Hare's eyes seemed to bulge of his head. "Alice, you come back." he said in half exclamation, half statement. "Had any adventures?."

"In a way." she said. "Would you like to hear about it?"

They all nodded. "Start from the beginning" said the March Hare.

"And when you get to the end, stop" said the Hatter, pouring tea from a four spouted teapot into four blue cups. "One lump or two?' he added.

Alice sat and told them what had happened, occasionally having to stop and move down a place.

From inside a sugar bowl a tiny voice was heard. "I've heard that story before, you've told it all wrong."

The Hare passed a plate of crumpets. "Dormy, you're being silly. Alice hasn't made that up, that really happened."

But the dormouse was already asleep.

"Has anyone seen the White Rabbit?" Alice asked.

There was an eery silence.

Hatter put down his cup. "Rabbit has disappeared"

"Disappeared?" asked a shocked Alice. "How?"

He slipped off his glove and held his hand in front of Alice. Nothing was there, his hand could barely be seen. 

Alice dropped her teacup and it smashed into tiny pieces on the floor.

"We're all disappearing Alice" he said softly. 

"Why?"

"Because they are trying to take you away from Wonderland."

"Who is?"

"Don't be stupid Alice, your doctors, the adults. They forget how wonderful it is to be in Wonderland, and they would like you to forget too. With every day they try to 'cure' you, a little bit of Wonderland is lost."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Alice apologized and began to sob.

"No matter dear" hushed the Hare as he poured another cup of tea. "It's not really your fault." He opened the sugar bowl a made a surprised look. He picked it up and looked under it. "Hatter" he stated "I do believe Dormy has disappeared."

Hatter peeked into the bowl. "So he has. I guess he won't be finishing his crumpet then." he said, taking a bite out of the biscuit. 

The Mad Hatter and March Hare seemed unfazed by the disappearance of their friend but Alice was unsettled by it. She pushed her chair away from the tale and stood up. 

"You're no help, you only care for tea. I....I have to find Cat" she stammered. 

She exited the front yard and tried to find cat.

  
  
  
  
  
  


*Almost done. I don't remember if in the book they call the Dormouse Dormy, but in the game they do, and even though i don't like it - I'm using it* 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. An unexpected turn

Alice ran back through Wonderland Woods, not looking back at her demented friends. Twigs scratched into her legs leaving red marks, limp spider webs hung in her hair and spores clung to her nose. 

"Just a little more and I should be out" she thought to herself.

But the farther she ran into the woods, the more unfamiliar it became. The woods were dark and forbidding, not bright and vivid as they had been before.

"These woods have become strange to me, I seem to have lost my way." she said aloud, listening to her echo carry through the forest.

She sat down beside a tree and began to whimper. 

"Oh...don't cry now dear" said a voice behind her. 

Alice looked around the tree and saw the Duchess sitting on the other side. 

"Fancy meeting you here" said Alice. "I seemed to have lost my way, can you help me out?"

The Duchess gave Alice an irritated look. "Do you think I've just been sitting here all day waiting to help you find your way?"

Alice tried to answer but was cut off.

"I'm not. I'm stuck here too! One minute I was playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts and I went to fetch a runaway ball that was in here."

Now the Duchess sat down and cried. 

"I could tell you the moral but I'm too upset to remember" she sniffed.

"Oh dear" Alice thought to herself after a few unsuccessful tries to find a way out. "Perhaps this is how my story will end." She wiped a few tears from her eyes.

A branch above her head shook violently and caused Alice to look up at it. Slowly the familiar shape of a grinning cat appeared.

"I see you have lost your way again Alice." 

Alice dried her eyes with her apron. 

"I don't know what to do Cat." she whined.

"Well" he purred. "The jury's still out on that."

"What are you talking about?"

The cat jumped off his perch and pounced on Alice, digging his claws into her skin.  
  


~*~  
  


Nurse D stared out the window. It was raining heavily. The only light in the nurse's station was a candle flickering on a desk, and the occasional bolt of lightning that lit up the whole room. She hated the night shift, alone at night in the asylum was not the most pleasurable experience. She sat and stared at the window, the pounding of the rain on the glass lulling her into a trance. 

The nurse was awakened a few moments later by a loud 'thud' coming from the hall. As soon as she got up to find the source, the door to the station was burst open by a young nurse, Maggie. This was her first night shift. 

"The patient in cell 986 is going into fits!" she cried. "I don't know what to do."

"Calm down Maggie. Who is in cell 986?"

"It's Alice." 

Nurse D rushed to Alice's room, while Maggie called for some help. In the cell, Alice was laying on the floor, writhing and scratching at herself.

Maggie came in, followed by two orderlies.

The two men held Alice's limbs to the ground while Maggie held her head still.

"Get off me!" screamed Alice, her eyes still closed, trying to wave her arms. "You're hurting me Cat!"

Nurse D left the room and came back with a syringe. Taking Alice's arm from an orderly, she pushed the syringe into Alice's fleshy arm.

Alice let out one last gasp of "Cat" and settled down. When her breathing became normal again the orderlies picked her up off the floor and put her on the bed, then they left with Maggie. Nurse D stayed behind. She picked up the white rabbit up from the floor and carried it out with her. 


	10. Alone

Alice struggled to get out of the card guards hold. She was wakened from a most disturbing dream....  
  


In the dream, she was walking down the halls of the asylum in search of her rabbit. She heard a commotion in the nurse's station, and went to investigate. Inside she saw Dr. Wilson and Nurse D - only they weren't themselves - they looked like the Red Queen and Mad Hatter! They stopped and looked at Alice. 

"Would you like some tea?" asked the Hatter, wearing Dr. Wilson's lab coat.

"No time for tea." replied the Queen, straightening her nurse's hat. Then she pointed at Alice and shouted, "Off with her head!"  
  


That's when Alice woke up. She wasn't in the woods anymore. She was in a courtyard. The sun was shining on her face. That's when the guards started to drag her.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To the trial."

"Trial?" wondered Alice.

She was then shoved into a waist high stall. To the right of her, high above her, was the Red Queen sitting at the Judge's bench. Then she must be in the witness stand. 

"Is this trial for me?" she wondered.

She looked over and saw the jury box. There was only eleven people. Bill McGill, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, Humpty Dumpty, a white bishop, a red pawn, the lion and the unicorn, and three card guards. 

The Cheshire Cat appeared before her. 

"Why did you hurt me Cat? Was it something I did?"

"It's a cat thing." the cat replied. "But your out of the woods now, aren't you glad?"

"Well I guess so. What is this trial for?"

"You."

"Me? Why?"

"We can't wait a lifetime for you to decide, so we're putting you on the spot."

"But you don't need a trial or a jury for that."

"I know that. But the Queen thought it would look more professional."

"Well I guess I can see the point in that. Are you the twelfth juror?"

The cat bowed his head. "No, Rabbit was the twelfth. He always loved a good trial."

"That he di..."

Alice was cut off by the queen.

"Everybody sit down!" she screamed.

The Queen looked down from the bench.

"Cat, you may start."

He nodded, then turned to Alice.

"Alice, don't you like it here?"

"I love it here Cat."

"Then why are you trying to leave us? Don't you like us anymore?"

Alice sighed and looked at the Cat. He was pacing in front of her. She looked at the Queen. She looked uninterested and drummed her fingers on her desk. 

"It's not that you aren't dear to me but, sometimes I get so lonely."

"What do you mean Child?" asked the Queen.

"Look around, there are talking plants and animals but no real humans like me."

"What about me?"

"You're not real and your definitely not sane."

The Queen gasped."How rude! I'll have your head for that!"

Alice continued talking to the Cat. 

"Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out. My peers have grown up, why can't I?"

"But we'll disappear."

"It's not your decision Cat" she warned.

"Please save us Alice!"

The sky had grown dark and the wind started to blow. 

"Leave me alone. I hate you, I hate Wonderland, I'm stuck in the asylum because of you!" 

Alice stood up. The wind swirled and howled.

"I hate you Wonderland! I hate you!"

"No Alice don't!" yelled the cat.

"I hate Wonderland! Why won't you go away? You ruined me!"

Alice couldn't tell if the wailing sound she heard was the inhabitants of Wonderland or the wind. It was very dark.  
  


~*~  
  


Alice tossed around in her bed.

"I...hate...Wonderland." she murmured.

If Alice was awake, she would have heard the clicking.

His nails clicking on the tiled floor.

He sat beside her. "Another restless night Alice? Never again."

Alice let out a mournful cry. "Where are you?"

"I have to go." he whispered. "It's time for you to grow up."

"What am I to do?" she whispered. "I'm alone."

"Yes alone, what you chose, but I don't blame you."

He paused for a moment and then turned to go. "Be good Alice." and then he disappeared.

"Cat? Don't leave me." she moaned in her dream. "Alone."  
  
  
  
The End


	11. Epilogue

"So Alice, are you glad to finally go?" asked Dr. Wilson.

"Yes. I've been waiting forever for today." She was packing a suitcase.

"Aren't you going to miss us?" he joked.

"Maybe I'll visit."

"You should, we don't get many visitors here"

"I'll miss all of you." she said "Even Dr. Rose."

"Dr. Rose? Who's that?"

"The therapist."

"Are you sure? I've never heard of her."

Alice shook her head. "I guess it was just a strange dream I had."

"Yes, never mind that. We've made arrangements to stay at a school for girls. It'll be a lot better than an orphanage."

When Alice was done packing she walked around the hospital, saying goodbye to people she didn't even know. When the evening came, she sat in the garden waiting to leave.

Dr. Wilson came and sat beside her. 

"The stars are beautiful, aren't they?"

"Yes."

"And the moon, laying on it's side, next to the stars it looks like a grinning face. A grinning cat perhaps, Alice?"

"No, cats don't grin, it isn't their nature."

"True." 

Nurse D joined them in the garden. "The carriage for you is here Alice."

Alice stood up and an orderly grabbed her suitcase. The doctor, nurse, orderly and Alice walked to the carriage.

"Don't forget us Alice." said Nurse D.

"I won't."

"Oh you almost forgot this..." Nurse D pulled a stuffed rabbit from her apron pocket. 

Alice stared at the rabbit. "No, I don't need it anymore."

"Right, you're growing up." she smiled and gave Alice a hug.

"Good luck Alice."

Alice stepped up into the carriage which began to move. "Goodbye Nurse D, goodbye Dr. Wilson." 

Alice stuck her head out of the window and waved until they were out of sight. 

It was the first day of the rest of her life.  
  
  
  


*Aww...that's it! I'm done! What do you think about the ending? It sounds like it could possibly lead to a sequel. Anyway, as a final addition I want to write some notes about the story and answer questions (I know I had some) about the story. If you would like me to answer something, please leave it here.*   
  
*3/20/02*- I think might make an alternate ending.


End file.
